Adjustable clamp



April 24, 1951 F. 1.. BUTTON ADJUSTABLE CLAMP Fild Dec.

FIG.

. INVENTOR FRED L.

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1951 ADJUSTABLE CLAMP Fred L. Button, North Bergen, N. J., assignor of one-third to Charles A.

one-third to Lee Coyne,

Morton, Baldwin, and

Rockville Centre, N. Y.

Application December 10, 1948, Serial No. 64,559

4 Claims. (01. 248-74) This invention relates to improvements in ad.- J'ustable clamps and more particularly to an improved adjustable clamp construction adapted to be secured to standpi-pes or the like, of various diameters. I

One object of this invention is a clamp which automatically adjusts itself to the diameter of the standpipe on which it is mounted.

Another object is an adjustable clamp which can be reversely assembled. v

Another object is an adjustable clamp which can be used over and over again and adjusted to standpi-pes of different sizes.

Another object is an adjustable clamp of but few and simple parts which is cheap, relatively strong for its weight, and which is easy to manufacture and very efficient and durable in use.

Other objects will appear. from the detailed description which follows: a i

In the drawings comprising but a single sheet of eight figures numbered Figsrl to 8 inclusive:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my adjustable clamp partially mounted upon a section of standpipe which is shown in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of said clamp mounted w upon standpipes of different sizes with certain of the parts shown in broken lines; v j I Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the clamp taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows and with a portion of the clamp broken away;

Fig. 5 is a framentary view partly in vertical cross-section showing how the clamp adjusts itself automatically to a standpipe of lesser diameter.

Fig.6 is afragmentary view partly in vertical cross-section showing how the parts of the clamp may be reversely assembled;

Fig.7 is a perspective view of a modified form of clamp partly assembled; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view partly in vertical cross-section taken along the line 8-8 of Fig-7 looking in the direction of the arrows with certain parts partially broken away.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout-the several. figures of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6, the adjustable clamp includes a bracket 20, a resilient strap 21. of spring steel or the like, the cylindrical nuts 23, which may be combined either with the. strap 2| (Fig. 4) or with the bracket 2i (Fig. 5), and with the screw bolts 24 which are insertable. either through the bracket or through the strap to engage the nuts 23. a

The clamp is mounted upon a standpipe'25-or 42 (Fig. 2), and is secured in position by screwing the screw bolts 24 into the cylindrical nuts 23 thus drawing the ends of strap 2| towards the bracket 20 until the resilient strap 2| is clamped firmly against the curved surface of the standpipe 25 or 42, as the case may be.

The bracket 20 is shaped out of a single piece of metal such as sheet steel which is bent and reversely bent to form a central channel. 25. and the outer channelsZ'I and 28. The central section ofthe bracket 20 may be cut away orotherwise shaped or bent to form the saddle 29 which is, curved at the bottom between the points 43-43 (Fig. 2) to form the arc of a circle conforming to the curvature of the circumference of the smallest size of standpipe for which the clamp is designed, so that some portionof the edge face of saddle 2!! will at spaced points abut the curved surface of any standpi-pe within the limits of those sizes of pipe for which the clamp is designed and in conjunction with the strap 21 insure three points of contact. The edgev faces 44 and 45-of the outer or wing portions of the saddle 29. merge with and forma continuation of the arc43 and divergeoutwardly therefrom, and good clamping results are obtained for all sizes of pipe within the limits of the clamp when the edge faces and 45 are formed to coincide with those tangents to the are 43 which when extended form an angle of substantially 45 degrees to that radial line which when extended to meet said tangents bisects the arc 43 at the point 46. 1

The clamp is madeadjustable to several different sizes of pipe but as the gauge of the sheet metal used in fabricating the clamp may vary with the diameter of the pipe and/or the load to be carried by the clamp, it is better practice to design the clamp in different sizes, each clamp in turn being adjustable to two or more sizes of pipe. For example, one clamp may be designed for pipes between one and one and one-half inches in diameter; another clam-p for pipes between two and three inches in diameter, etc. The size groups indicated are merely illustrative and not by way oflimitation.

The strap 2! is long enough so that when the clamp is attached to-the largest size of pipe 25 (Fig. 2) for which it is designed, the curvature of the pipe 25 will not interfere with the free passage of the screw bolts 24 through either the holes in the positioning rollers 22 or the holes in the-nuts 23; and the strap 2! is short enough so that when the clamp is attached to the smallest size pipe 42 (Fig. 2) for which it is designed the strap 2% can be drawn tight without interference between its pockets 3i3-36 and the face of the bracket or plate 241.

The holed pockets 30-38 which are located upon opposite sides ofthe saddle .29 maybe concavely formed recesses provided with the protruding peripheral lips 3i-3i for strengthening skilled in the art.

3 the bracket while at the same time forming a seat for the positioning rollers 22-22 which slip over the stems of the screw bolts 24-24. The bracket 20 may be further strengthened by providing the outer channels 21 and 28 with the reversely bent upstanding lips or flanges 32 and 33.

The load to be supported by the bracket 23 may be attached to the bracket in any suitable manner as by means of bolts (not shown) which may be inserted through the spaced holes 34 and 35 formed in the laterally projecting walls of the outer channels 21 and .28. The spaced holes 34 and 35 are preferably elongated to form slotted openings for adjusting the bolts by which the load (not shown) is fastened to the bracket 20.

The resilient strap 2| which is preferably made of spring steel is bent over at its opposite ends to form pockets 35-36 for the cylindrical nuts 23-23. The ends of the steel strap 2| may be spot welded at 37-3? thus strengthening the strap pockets. The cylindrical wall of each strap pocket 35 is partially cut away to form the oppositely disposed spaced elongated slots 38 and 39 through which the internal thread of the cylindrical nut 23 is made accessible to the thread of the screw bolt 24. The ends of the cylindrical nuts 23 may be rounded on as at 4| (Fig. 3). The pockets 36 form bearings for the cylindrical nuts 23, which are free to turn within the pockets 36 to accommodate the nuts 23 to any change'in 1 the angular position of the screw bolts 24 (see Figs. 2, 4, and 5) as the screw bolts are screwed up tight to anchor the clamp to a standpipe 25 or 42. In some cases it may be necessary to weld or otherwise secure the load to the plate 20 before the clamp is assembled, in which event it would be impractical to manipulate the screw bolts 24 from the bracket side of the clamp. In such cases the positioning rollers 22-22 may be inserted in the strap pockets 36-36, and the screw bolts slipped through the holes in the rollers and screwed into the internal threads 46 to draw the cylindrical nuts 23-23 against the seats formed by the peripheral lips 3 |-3| of the holed pockets 30-30 (see Fig. 6').

Various modifications will be obvious to those One such modification is shown in Figs. '7 and 8 wherein the bracket 50 is provided with countersunk seats 5|-5| for the screw bolts 55.

The spring steel strap 52 is provided with strap pockets 54 having the strap ends spot welded to the strap 52 as before, and the internally threaded barrel nuts '53 are or" substantially the same length as the width of the strap so as to be flush therewith when the clamp is drawn tight. The screw bolts 55 may be provided with ball shaped heads to allow the bolts to rock freely in the conical seats 5|. The strap pockets 54 are provided with elongated slots to permit angular adjustment of the screw bolts 55 as the barrel nuts 53 rock in the'seats formed by the strap pockets 54.

Principle of operation The bracket 2|] is placed across a standpipe 25 or 42, so that the saddle 29 straddles a portion of the Wall of a cross-section of pipe to align the outer channels 2? and 28 in the desired position. The positioning rollers 22 are slipped upon the screw bolts 24-24 which are inserted through the holed pockets 33-30 so that the rollers 22 are seated upon the peripheral lips 3 I. The strap 2| is passed around the opposite side of the standpipe and the cylindrical nuts 23-23 are inserted in the pockets 36-33 with the internal threads 40-43 of the nuts in registry with the slots 38 and 39 of the pockets 36. The screw bolts 24 are now threaded into the cylindrical nuts 23-23 and are drawn tight as by means of a screw driver. The strap 2| embraces the standpipe 25 or 42, and according to the diameter of the pipe the strap pockets 36-36 are drawn towards the face of the standpipe (see Fig. 2), towards each other, and towards the face of the bracket 20, the spacing between the pockets 36 and between the pockets and the face of the bracket, varying with the diameter of the standpipe. The screw bolts 24-24 accommodate themselves to the diameter of the standpipe, and in so doing rock the positioning rollers'22-22 upon the seats formed by the upstanding peripheral lips 3|-3| (compare Figs' 4 and 5). As the bolts '24 draw the pockets 35-33 towards the bracket or plate 23, the cylindrical nuts 23-23 rotate in the pockets 36-36 of strap 2| so as to properly align the internal thread 43 of the nuts 23-23 with the male thread of the screw bolts 24-24. The screw bolts 24-24 are tightened until the clamp has been firmly anchored to the standpipe at least three spaced points of contact. The load (not shown) to be supported by the bracket may now be attached thereto by means of suitable bolts (not shown) fastened in the spaced holes 34-34 and 35-35.

Where necessary, the positions of the positioning rollers 22-22 and of the cylindrical nuts 23-23 which are interchangeable, may be re versed as shown in Fig. 6, and the screw bolts 24-24 adjusted and tightened from the rear or strap side of the clamp. This arrangement makes the clamp reversible. I

The load may be removed and by removing the screw bolts 24 the adjustable clamp may be dismantled. If the bracket 23 is made of sheet steel and the strap 2| is made of spring steel they will not be materially deformed, and they may be secured to another standpipe of any selected diameter within the limits of the clamp.

What is claimed is:

1. In an adjustable pipe clamp and in combination a load supporting bracket having an are shaped saddle portion adapted to engage'a section of pipe, a resilient strap having pockets formed at its opposite ends, internally threaded nuts removably pivotably mounted in said pockets, each pocket having oppositely disposed slotted openings formed in the wall thereof for accommodating the threaded opening in the nut to the threaded stem of a complementary screw fastener, said bracket having spaced through openings formed therein for accommodating fastening devices, some of said bracket openings being slotted to permit space adjustment between load carrying fastening devices adapted to be secured therein, screw fasteners passing through certain of said bracket-openings and through said pocket openings and screwing into said nuts to draw said strap into clamping position on a pipe, said screw fasteners being angularly movable in their bracket-openings, to accommodate themselves to the girth of the pipe, and said nuts pivoting in said pockets to accommodate themselves to any angular movement of their complementary screw fasteners.

2. In an adjustable pipe clamp and in combination a load supporting bracket having a saddle portion adapted to engage a section of pipe, 9. spring-steel strap having its opposite ends bent over and spot welded to form sleeve-pockets, in-

ternally threaded cylindrical nuts slidably pivotably mounted in said sleeves, each sleeve having oppositely disposed spaced slotted Openings formed in the wall thereof for aligning the internally threaded opening in the nut with the threaded stem of a complementary screw fastener, said bracket having spaced through openings formed therein for accommodating fastening devices, some of said bracket-openings being slotted to permit the adjustment of load carrying fastening devices when secured therein, screw fasteners passing through certain of said bracket-openings and through said pocket-openings to threadably engage said nuts and draw said strap into clamping position, said screw fasteners being swingable in their bracket-openings to accommodate themselves to the girth of the pipe, and said nuts being rotatable axially in said sleeve-pockets to automatically realign their internally threaded openings with the threaded shanks of their complementary screw fasteners as said strap is drawn into clamping position.

3. In an adjustable pipe clamp and in combination a load supporting plate shaped to define a saddle for engaging a section of pipe, a springsteel strap having its opposite ends bent back upon and welded to the strap to form sleevepockets extending from the opposite ends of the strap, internally threaded cylindrical nuts removably slidably mounted in said pockets and axially rotatable therein, each pocket having oppositely disposed slotted openings formed in the wall thereof in spaced relation wherein the internally threaded opening in the axially rotatable nut is adapted to register, said plate having spaced openings formed therein for accommodating fastening devices, some of said plateopenings being slotted to permit the space adjustment of load carrying fastening devices as they are inserted therein, screw fasteners passing through certain of said plate-openings and through said pocket-openings to screw into said nuts and draw the ends of said strap inwardly around the pipe to progressively increase the area of the pipe surface clamped by the strap until clamping position is reached, said screw fasteners being angularly movable in their plate-openings to conform the space between them to the girth of the pipe, and said nuts rotating axially in said pockets when their complementary screw fasteners are turned to maintain automatic alignment between said nuts and their associated screw fasteners.

4. In an adjustable pipe clamp and in combination, opposing complementary members, one of said members forming a saddle and the other a strap, nuts and bolts for drawing the opposite ends of said strap towards the opposite ends of said saddle to tension said clamp, positioning rollers freely slidable on said bolts, holed pockets formed at the opposite ends of said strap for affording free passage for said bolts and for pivotally and interchangeably supporting said nuts and said rollers, holed seats formed in spaced relation upon said saddle for affording free passage for said bolts and for interchangeably accommodating said nuts and said rollers, said bolts passing through said holed pockets, said holed seats, and said rollers, in either direction to threadably engage said nuts, said nuts and said rollers pivoting relative to said pockets and said seats to permit angular movement of the bolts to effect correct registry of the nut and bolt threads and to progressively increase the area of contact between the strap and the pipe, and said nuts and bolts, in conjunction being operable to lock said rollers and said nuts in said pockets and upon said seats in imparting tension to said clamp.

FRED L. BUTTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,760,458 Weber May 27, 1930 1,806,516 Bardsley May 19, 1931 2,127,456 Adams Aug. 16, 1938 2,179,251 De Right et a1 Nov. '7, 1939 

